Don't Bury Me, I'm Not Yet Dead
by NoelAnderson
Summary: Andrew didn't die, none of them can, because their bodies heal themselves. Unfortunately, his brain has taken longer to heal, so he has no memories. Somehow he ended up in Oregon, and now Matt and Steve have to find him. Meanwhile...
1. Missing, Gone, Nowhere to be Found

The dead don't just up and walk away, they are either stolen or misplaced, both of which are pretty bizarre scenarios. Matt Garrety knew that, but it didn't help dampen his panic. Nothing normal or even remotely so ever happened to his cousin, alive or dead apparently. And now Andrew Detmer's body was missing, gone, nowhere to be found.

He was frantic and angry. Would Andrew ever catch a break? After alerting the police to the situation and speaking briefly to an officer, there was nothing left to do but wait. He knew using his abilities to try and find Andrew's body would be a bad idea, because he was already under enough scrutiny as it was.

So he stayed home, pacing the length of his room impatiently while his good friend (And maybe something more) Casey Letter sat on his bed watching him. She hugged a pillow to her chest as she gazed at Matt worriedly.

"There weren't any hints as to what could have happened at the morgue? None?" She asked him, her voice begging him to think hard.

"No, there was nothing. He was just simply… gone." Matt replied in frustration. He ran his hands through his hair, grabbing a fist full and tugging gently, trying to relieve some tension in his head.

"Someone probably just put it-"

"Him!"

"_Him," _Casey emphasized, appeasing Matt. "They probably just put him somewhere else on accident, somewhere other then where he was supposed to go and you're panicking for nothing."

"No." Matt shook his head, sure she was wrong. "That's not what happened. If so then one of the workers there would have spoken up when the police talked to them."

"Ok, I see where you're coming from with that. Then maybe someone stole his body out of anger." Casey said, her voice growing quiet as Matt slowed in his pacing to glare venomously at the window, the possibility dawning on him.

Not a lot of people were happy with Andrew at the moment. Not after what he did in Seattle. Although, not a lot of people were happy with Matt either. After he had left Andrew's camera in Tibet and flown back home, he'd had to face trial after trial in court cases and what not about what had happened in Seattle. After quite a lot of debate, he was left alone, the charges dropped with some help from the government (Its also helped that everything had been caught on tape, therefore he had all the proof needed to justify his actions), but only if he complied to some ground rules. He was not allowed leave the country, for one, and he was being kept under a vigilant watch. That didn't really bother him though. It's not like he had anywhere to go or anything to hide. He was all alone, besides Casey of course.

She was the most level headed about the whole situation. The kids at school, because his parents-of whom where rather detached about the whole thing-wouldn't let him miss any school just because he was now the 1st Wonder of World or whatever, avoided him at all cost and stared at him relentlessly. He was nothing but a freak to them all. Casey was his only friend now.

"Well what if," Casey stopped, unsure if she should continue.

"Go on." Matt urged.

"What if he's, you know, alive again. I mean, _you _can fly and move things with your mind, and Andrew went far beyond that. What if his abilities evolved and his wounds healed themselves and-and his heart started up again. I mean, it's possible, with you guys at least." She explained, fiddling with her hands, afraid that Matt would laugh at her.

Matt stood there dumbstruck. He had never thought of that. Not that it was very likely, but he had to examine all possibilities.

"It's possible." He mumbled thoughtfully.

"Yeah, and if that _is_ what happened, then that means Andrew's out there somewhere. We have to find him!" Casey exclaimed, jumping off the bed in excitement. She was about to grab hold of the door handle, but Matt stopped her.

"We're not even sure that's what actually happened. We have to think this through carefully." He glared, crossing his arms.

"What are you afraid?" Casey yelled suddenly. "Really! Do you honestly believe his body was stolen or misplaced? He _has _to be alive."

"I don't think-" Matt stopped his shout abruptly. His body froze as a thought came to him. "Wait, I know how we can figure this out. Come one."

Matt grabbed Casey around the waist and took off out his window, flying fast towards the middle of town.

"What are you doing?" Casey yelled to him above the sound of the wind.

"I have to see something." He shouted back vaguely.

Casey accepted his answer and kept quiet. She would find out what he was doing soon enough.

Matt flew for a few more minutes before landing roughly at the graveyard. He put Casey down and started off in a specific direction, lost in thought.

The idea that Andrew was alive excited him a way that scared him. He did not want to be disappointed because believing and then finding out he was wrong (Or Casey was wrong, more like) would crush him. He felt he couldn't live through that. He already lost Andrew once, he couldn't loose him again. He loved Andrew like family, because he was family, he'd just never really felt anything for his cousin before. Andrew had always been shy and quiet, but after the events in that underground tunnel, he'd opened up and Matt had been able to see who Andrew really was. He wanted Andrew to be alive; he just didn't want to believe it was possible just yet.

He walked coolly towards Steve's grave, a grim determination written all over his face.

"What are you doing?" Casey breathed as she ran to catch up to him.

"Finding out if your theory that Andrew's still alive is possible or not."

He stood uncertainly in front of Steve's grave, unsure of what to do next. He glanced at Casey to see her looking at him in confusion. He knelt down and placed his fingertips on the grass, closing his eyes and concentrating. He could feel something in his mind. A second presence almost. Briefly he thought he felt a third, but it disappeared so quickly he dismissed it.

"Oh my gosh." He whispered in shock, backing away from the grave. "Steve-he's alive! I can feel him. We have to dig him up!"

"What! What are you talking about Matt?" Casey looked at him with wide eyes.

"I can _feel_ Steve. You were right, ok. We have to dig him up, _now!_ He's probably panicking down there. Who knows long he's been stuck under ground." Matt explained as he got down on his knees before the grave.

Casey grabbed his shoulder to keep him from moving again.

"Wait! You can't just dig up a grave." She said incredulously. "That's like, a crime or something."

Matt huffed in annoyance.

"Fine, I'll do it this way then." He stood up and stretched out his arms, facing his palms up to the sky. He started flexing them, slowly bringing them up like he was straining against a mighty weight. As he did so, the ground in front of him groaned and shifted.

"How are you…" Casey's voice trailed off as she observed Matt at work. His brunette hair ruffled in the breeze and his brown eyes were squinted in concentration.

Slowly, very slowly, the dirt began to lift. Almost grain-by-grain, the earth comically rose into the air, gathering into a great floating blob. Matt flexed his hands again and the process sped up. The dirt lifted faster and faster, gathering more and more. The hole underneath grew deeper, until finally a coffin was visible.

Matt moved the unearthed dirt above the ground next to the hole and let it tumble down.

"Come on, Casey." Matt beckoned as he jumped down into the hole.

He stood before the coffin hesitantly. He didn't want to see his friend's roasted body if he was wrong about the whole thing, but he didn't want to tae the chance. He felt as Casey jumped in next to him. He looked at her, her face reflecting his uncertainty.

Before he could back down, though, something banged against the coffin. From the inside.

"Steve!" Matt shouted. He undid the latches on the wooden crate and opened it so quickly; Casey didn't have a chance to protest.

Matt looked in wonderment at his supposedly dead friend. Steve laid in the coffin, coughing and wheezing, but seeming unscathed. He leaned up on his elbows and Matt quickly helped him so he could stand up.

"Oh man," Steve groaned as he leaned against Matt. "Thank you so Matt. You have no idea what it's like being trapped underground for days. It's extremely claustrophobic, dude, and not very pleasant, not very pleasant at all."

"You've been stuck in your coffin for _days_?" Casey asked in disbelief.

Steve looked at her, then back at Matt, then back at her.

"Well hello to you too, sweetheart. And to answer our question, yes, I was down there for a while." Steve replied with a smirk.

"Why didn't you just use your abilities to get out?" Matt asked.

"I was too drained, man. It's exhausting coming back from the dead." As he said, a strange look crossed over Steve's face. "Speaking of me dying, where's Andrew?"

Matt almost dropped Steve as he remembered why they'd come here in the first place. He looked nervously at Casey.

"We _really _have to find him now." He told her with a mix of joy and anxiety. His cousin was alive, but he didn't know how messed up he still was.

"What do you mean you have to find him?" Steve asked them both, confusion coloring his tone.

Matt sighed, lifting Steve and himself up and out of the hole before answering.

"We have a lot we have to talk about, Steve." He told his friend gravely. Steve's eyes grew downcast as he took in the look on Matt's face. He knew something horrible had happened to Andrew, he just hoped his friend was ok…

/

_A Few Days Later, In A Small Town in Oregon_

"What are we going to do with him?" A tall man in a business suit asked a petite woman next to him. They were both gazing through a window at a young, scarred boy who was sitting quietly in a chair, his folded hands resting on the table in front of him.

"Well he's just a boy Novak, he's lost practically all his memories, and as far as we know he hasn't done anything wrong. And clearly he's been through something quite traumatic if the burn scars on his face and arms have anything to say about it. I think the best thing we can do at the moment would be to temporarily place in him a foster home so he can go to school and try and live normally." Macy Truce replied to her companion, Charles Novak.

Macy was with Child services and Charles worked at the police station. The boy had been found wondering aimlessly in an old field with newly healed burns scars covering his body. The person who'd found him had informed the police immediately and the boy had been brought here, to the station, for questioning.

As far as they could tell, he had minimal access to his memories. He could remember his first name but not his last, he could remember his school education, but not where he went or what teachers he had, and he could remember that he was sixteen years old, but that was basically it.

"We can't keep him here. Like you said he'd done nothing wrong." Charles agreed, looking down at Macy. "I think you're right. It would good to keep him in a stable home while we try and figure out who his family is, or until someone claims him."

Macy nodded, never taking her eyes off the boy.

"Good, then I'll have Andrew taken to Viola Tyler's house as soon as the arrangements can be made."

**A/N: I know I have a few other stories to finish at the moment, but I don't plan on making this too long, and I couldn't help it. I loved the movie, and the other stories being written about it really inspired me. I hope you all like it so far, but it will get much better in the next chapter. The story focuses on Andrew and what happens to him while he has no memory, and how Matt and Steve search for him and what happens when they do. I have a lot planned for this story. **

_**Please review, and if you have anything specific you want to happen in this story, please just tell me, I'll happily consider. **_**I know when I'm reading a story, I always look for certain things that the story usually doesn't have and it quite disappointing. Anyway, until next time **


	2. Still As Freaky As Ever

**A/N: Thank you to all who reviewed the last chapter and gave me pointers and what not. One person mentioned that I shouldn't let other opinions rule how I write, and I appreciate their honesty, but I like hearing what you guys want to see in the story. Just because you tell me you want it to happen, doesn't mena I'll actually write it, but you might have an idea that I really like and wouldn't have thought of on my own. **

_Present Time_

Steve looked at Matt in disbelief. The story Matt Garrety had just told was both horrible and gut wrenching. He didn't want to believe it had really happened, he wanted to give Andrew the benefit of a doubt, but he knew better then to dismiss Matt's words. He wouldn't lie about this, not in a million years.

"Wow, I just-wow." He was at a loss for words. How does a person react to a story like that?

"But it wasn't _all_ Andrew's fault!" Casey made sure he knew. "He was pushed to it. Anyone would have snapped in his position."

They were back at Matt's house, sitting on the floor. Steve sat against Matt's bed and Casey was leaning against Matt with his arm around her shoulder as a small form of comfort.

"Yeah, not all of it was his fault, but what happened was devastating. You know it had to have been if I was forced to, you know." Matt said, his face pinched with sadness. He still didn't like talking about how he had to kill his cousin. Even if Andrew was now alive.

"Wow." Steve repeated. "I'm almost glad I died before all this happened. The whole 'black person always dies first' cliché _actually_ came in handy."

Matt couldn't help but smile. It was nice to have Steve back, cracking jokes.

"But seriously," Matt tried to get them all back on track. "What are we going to do about Andrew?"

"We need to find him." Steve said like it was obvious. "I mean, I know I should be angry with him, I _should_ hate him, but I don't. I couldn't even begin to tell you what that kid went through, because I've had a relatively good home life. Like Casey said, it wasn't all his fault, he was pushed to it. Andrew didn't deserve to go through any of that. And no matter what, we're his friends; you're his cousin. He's family.

"I think we should start searching for him. He could be anywhere by now and for all we know he might not remember anything. He probably needs us! You and I can fly to different towns to look for him, and Casey can search the web for anything useful. If you don't mind that is." Steve finished up, looking at Casey to see if she wanted to help.

"I want to help Andrew just as much as you guys do." She confirmed with a nod.

"Wait, wait. You've both left something out. I'm currently being watched by the government, and I don't think they're going to take Steve's sudden resurrection very well, if you know what I mean. I can't just go flying around without any explanation, and I cant exactly say 'Oh, I'm just looking for my dead cousin' because that won't fly well with them either and you know it!" Matt exclaimed, glaring at Steve.

"Well than you don't tell them what we're doing. Or about me for that matter. We can search covertly. I can stay here, because you're parents don't really pay attention to what goes on in your life, and don't deny it! I picked up on that pretty quickly after befriending your sorry butt. They wont notice a thing." Steve replied smugly, leaning back with his hands behind his head.

Matt sighed in irritation, looking to Casey to speak up.

"Don't look at me like that; I'm with Steve on this." Casey shrugged.

Steve then looked at him with a triumphant grin.

"There's no defying the lady, my good friend. We search for Andrew in the morning!" He shouted happily, jumping up and raising his arms like he just won the super bowel.

"Fine, fine, you guys win." Matt grumbled dejectedly, but secretly, he was looking forward to finding his cousin again. He was going to find Andrew and bring him home where he belonged.

/

_Three Days Later, Kirsten, Oregon_

"You'll be fine Andrew," Viola Tyler snapped harshly to the younger boy standing nervously in front of her. "Just keep your head down and your mouth shut and no one will see you for the pathetic little brat you are."

Andrew glared impudently at the woman. He'd been under her care for two days, and he already hated her. To his knowledge, she only took in foster kids so she could keep the money the government gave her to buy clothes and food for the children under her care. He'd been through a lot in the past three days and still she took no pity on him. She was a heartless witch.

The past few days had been quite eventful for him. He'd woken up in the middle of a field with a strange woman kneeling over him, asking if he was ok or if anything hurt. She had brought him to her house and called the police to alert them to the situation. After that he'd been brought to the local police station and questioned for hours about how he ended up unconscious in a field in the small town of Kirsten, Oregon. Of course he had been unable to answer, due to the amnesia.

A woman from Child Services had been called to help assist the situation. She'd been kind to him, something that seemed out of the ordinary to him for some reason. She introduced her self as Mrs. Truce, and she had promised to help him. She told him he was going to be placed in a foster home until his family or guardian could be found. He'd trusted her, but now he was regretting it.

When Viola had come to pick him up, she'd seemed so nice and caring, he could see why Mrs. Truce thought she was fit to foster children, but the second the two were alone, she let her true, hideous colors shine through.

She'd laid down ground rules for him, telling him he would be severely punished if he protested in any way. He was to go to school the second day he stayed with her, (Because she couldn't be bothered to miss anymore than a days worth of work babysitting him.) if he wanted new clothes or any other 'stupid teenage crap' he had to get a job to pay for it himself, and he was expected to help take care of the younger kids under her 'care', as it was his responsibility as a young adult to prepare for his future job as a family care taker. So yeah, she was a witch. All she needed was a pointy hat and broomstick and she'd been golden. And maybe a huge wart and a few boils so she would look the same on the outside as she did in.

There were five other kids staying at her house: Maxine Lolls was his age, seventeen, Kris Brickfield was fifteen, Curran Long was eight, Hank Edwards was seven, and Rebecca Wilson was four. Maxine was a pain, a stereotypical teenager, so he avoided her at all costs. She was the second worst at the house, almost as bad as Viola. He didn't mind Kris or Hank, they were both ok, and Curran was a sweetheart. He liked Rebecca best, she was adorable, but he didn't want to get attached to any of them. He had a feeling he wouldn't be staying long. That's why he planned on staying reclusive while he was forced to attend Kirsten Middle School.

And that pretty much brought him to where he was, standing outside the High School, waiting for the principal so Viola could ditch him.

"Thanks for that helpful piece of advice." Andrew said sarcastically. Viola stopped her texting and looked up at him angrily. She let her arms fall to her side before advancing on him menacingly. She leaned down to his eyelevel, invading his personal space before talking to him slowly.

"I've housed plenty of kids like you before. You're defiant now, but you'll get a hang of how things work with me soon enough. You may only be staying with me for a little while, but I don't tolerate back talking." Viola smiled viciously at him, patting him lightly on the head.

He flinched away from the touch automatically, like the reaction came naturally. It puzzled him. Why would he be afraid of human contact? He dismissed his thoughts immediately though. Anyone would flinch away from Viola Tyler's touch. She was vile.

"Well hello, Andrew! Miss Tyler!" A voice called from behind the two of them. Both Andrew and Viola spun around to meet the warm eyes of Principal Ramirez. He was a short, Spanish man with a potbelly and large hands. "Welcome to Kirsten High. I hope you enjoy the your time here, although I know no child _enjoys_ school." He whispered to Andrew when he reached him, like he was sharing a secret.

"Um, yeah, I guess. Thank you?" He replied uncertainly, not sure what to say.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Don't even bother trying to be nice to the kid; he's not going to be staying here long." Viola cut in, earning a weak glare from Principal Ramirez. "Look, just send Andrew home with Maxine and Kristopher. Make sure he doesn't get in any first fights and that's all that matters to me. He can fail all his classes for all I care, just keep the police out of it." She warned the man rudely.

"Now I have to go. Make sure you keep Rebecca and Hank out of trouble when you get back to the house." She reminded Andrew as she texted on her phone distractedly. "Bye Bye, Andy."

"It's Andrew!" He called after her.

"Whatever!" She shouted back brashly.

The principal watched her walk away with disgusted look in his eyes. "Yes, that woman is horrible." He said as he turned back to Andrew. "I've tried to get her off the foster care system many a time, but I've never succeeded. Anyway, I'll just give you your schedule for the day and you can be on your way. Your first class starts in five minutes, it's on the second floor, third door to the right." He handed Andrew a sheet of paper with directions and classes on it before walking back into the school without saying so much as a 'good luck'.

"Thanks for the hospitality." Andrew mumbled to himself bitterly. Today, would _not_ be a good day.

/

And a good day it was not. At least the first wasn't, because that was as far as he'd gotten.

It had taken more than just five minutes to find his first period class, so he'd been late. That alone had been embarrassing, but then the teacher made him stand up in front of the entire class to 'tell them a little about yourself'. That had gone just lovely. All he was able to tell them was that he had amnesia and was staying at a foster care house until his real family could be found. They had all laughed at him. He'd gotten so mad, he could have sworn it was his fault the teacher's mug had imploded, but that was impossible.

After that that others kids avoided him like he had the black plague. They looked at him like he was some kind of freak, and for what? Just because he couldn't remember much about his life, because he was staying at a foster house? It made his blood boil, but something about it all seemed normal, like he was used to being treated like he was nothing. He must not have been very popular at his old school, wherever that was.

The next four periods were almost painful to experience. His science partner spent the whole class mackin' on some red headed cheerleader, the person that sat behind him in math took a liking to flicking him behind the head, and his gym teacher treated him like he was made of glass. Not to mention everyone gawked at his scars.

Now it was time for lunch, and he was dreading it. He walked to the cafeteria as slowly as possible. He knew no one would want to sit with him. Lunchtime would be miserable.

He sighed and ran a hand through his dirty blonde hair, looking around nervously. Of course he had a packed lunch, because Viola refused to allow any of her foster kids to buy lunch. To her it was a waste of money.

As he pushed open the cafeteria doors, he could feel all eyes on him. He kept his head down, subconsciously following Viola's orders. He bumped into a few chairs but he managed to get to an empty table without looking anyone in the eyes.

He sat down, landing in the blue lunchroom chair with a quiet plop. Mechanically he pulled out his sack lunch and started taking out his food. He opened the Ziploc bag that held his PB and J sandwich, and started chewing quietly.

As he ate he pondered the situation he was now. He hadn't told anyone, but he could still remember some little things. Like he knew his mom was dead, but he couldn't remember how she died, and he couldn't remember what happened to his dad, and for some reason he didn't care either way. He also remembered that he lost a friend semi recently, someone that he had been really close to. The thought saddened him; in a way he was glad he couldn't remember how it had happened, or who he was. He also remembered he had a cousin, but that was all. He couldn't remember anything about the kid.

He was pulled out of his morbid thinking by a presence appearing by his side in the form of a person. A person who was now sitting in the seat right next to him.

"Can I help you?" He questioned without looking up.

"Nope." A feminine voice replied.

Curiously he looked up. The girl sitting next to him had long, layered brown hair and was wearing a grey beanie. Her eyes were a silver grey color and she wore a dark blue short sleeve shirt and a pair of faded jean shorts with some black All-Stars. Her clothes were casual, but still nicer than his hand me down green tee and ripped blue jeans.

"I'm Katie Harris. You seem lonely." She said bluntly, leaning back in the chair.

"Well I'm not, so please, go away." He glared at her. Katie raised her eyebrows at his reproachful tone.

"Hey, I'm just trying to be nice here buddy. You don't need to be so rude. I'm not here to make fun of you or anything. I actually think you look interesting, and that's a compliment coming from me, considering I think most people are boring, lifeless automatons. I saw how everyone was staring shamelessly at you. They're not very bright, so I kindly ask you don't take it too personally." Katie said apologetically

"Why are you apologizing for them?" He asked her.

"I though it would make you feel better." She replied with a shrug.

"Oh, uh, well, thanks." He said with a small smile.

"Your welcome." Katie smiled widely at him, flashing pearly white teeth. He noticed how she was looking at him, without seeming to see the scars. Before he could stop, he asked, "Do my scars not bother you?"

Katie looked at him with narrowed eyes, assessing him.

"Those aren't so bad. They're already healing. _This_ is a real scar." She said, holding her arm out to him, showing him a long scar that ran all along her upper and lower arm. "This won't heal. You're lucky."

"What happened?" He asked in shock, almost touching the scar, before pulling away instinctively.

"Psh, please. Like I'll tell _you_ that. I barely know you. I don't even know your name." Katie looked at him expectedly.

Andrew growled in his throat, getting annoyed with the girl sitting next to him. He didn't know if he wanted to eat lunch with any one anymore.

"Andrew, my name's Andrew. I don't remember my last name." He replied grudgingly.

"I like that name, it's nice." She said with a nod.

"Thanks for the approval." Andrew snorted.

"Your welcome." Katie said cheekily.

Andrew rested his head on the table, taking deep calming breathes. This was going to be a long day.

**A/N: I know, I know. Most people don't like OC stories, neither do I. The only other OC story I started, I wanted to stop because it got on my nerves. But I didn't see how I could avoid it with this story. Since Andrew's away from Matt and Steve, he had to have some other friend, and I didn't want to only write about guys, besides Casey that is. I hope you all don't hate me :P Anyway, please review! Show me your love and if people **_**really**_** don't like Katie, than I'll redo the chapter.**


	3. Take To The Sky

**A/N: I must say that I'm disappointed. On my first chapter, I got seven great reviews, and than on my second, I only got two. Not that I'm ungrateful, but still, was it really that bad? Well, it's ok anyway. I plan on writing this all the way through. I hope to finish by April, but you never know how life will get in the way. Just so you all know, Katie isn't all that important. She's just Andrew's friend. This isn't going to be an Andrew/Katie centric fic. So don't worry about a Mary Sue. You can rest easy anyway, I hope you like this chapter!**

**P.S. For any of you curious, I got the name of this story from a line in the song Alive by Superchick. It's a really good, if not strange, song. You should check it out.**

**P.P.S There's this song by Skillet that fits Andrew's situation perfectly. Any fan of Chronicle should definitely check it out. It's called ****Open Wounds**** and it's amazing.**

**P.P.P.S And Last but not least, there's a video on YouTube by Ryan Higa called Movie In Minutes: Chronicle. It's freaking hilarious. If you haven't seen it, you absolutely have to! Go check it now! Before you even read this! I'm serious.**

The rest of Andrew's day went a little better. Just a little. Katie had a few classes with him, and she persistently stuck around him whenever she could. He found her infuriating, but still kind. Just the fact that she was trying so hard to make sure he wasn't lonely meant _something _to him. He wasn't heartless. At least he thought he wasn't. For all he knew he could have been a serial killer just a few short weeks ago.

He saw Maxine and Kris a few times in the halls, but neither paid him any mind. They were too busy with their friends and what not to care how his day had been going.

As soon as his last class was over, he was out the school's front door in an instant. He couldn't get away fast enough.

His first day had been, in his personal opinion, an epic fail. The only 'friend' he made was slightly crazy and happened to have a few shady scars, everybody thought he was some kind of freak, and he was starting to agree with them. All throughout the day, strange things had happened. First there was the teacher's mug imploding, of course, but than other weird things kept happening to him too. It seemed as though freaky was just drawn to him. All day he'd had this headache that kept going and than coming back. It was a dull throbbing in the back of his brain, like someone was trying to communicate with him, as odd as it sounded. It never fully left. And than, in his last class, this kid had been grabbing his papers and crumbling them up, punching him in his arms, and spitting on his desk all throughout the period, and near the end, when the jerk had gotten particularly annoying, his desk had miraculously toppled over. He certainly had a laugh over it, but the happening still unnerved him.

That kind of stuff just doesn't happen. Not in real life. The lack of answers was starting to wear on him. He couldn't take not knowing about everything. If he could just remember his last name, he would be able to find his family, or at least someone who could clue him in a little.

His burn scars were healing at an alarming rate. Now, they were only these light pink splotches blemishing his skin. He hoped Viola wouldn't notice, and knowing her she wouldn't. Even if she did she wouldn't care.

Voila had told him to go home with Maxine and Kris, both of whom took the bus, but he didn't feel like being cooped up a smelly yellow metal monster, and he knew the way to Tyler's house, so he decided to walk. Viola probably wouldn't find out anyway.

From the schoolyard he started up the sidewalk, his hands jammed into his jean pockets as he tried to stay inconspicuous. He didn't want to attract attention, especially of the bullying type. He hoped his walk home would be nice and quiet, and time where he could think things through a little.

"Hey Andrew, wait up!" Katie called from behind him.

Andrew sighed in annoyance, determinedly keeping his fast pace _away_ from Katie's general direction. He didn't need an escort home.

"So how was your first day?" She asked once she'd caught up with him.

"Just dandy." Andrew replied sarcastically.

Katie laughed bitterly, her eyebrows raised in amusement.

"That great, huh? Well that's pretty much what you could expect from a small town like this. We're not Texas, kid. People around here don't take well to newcomers. But you don't have to worry too much. They'll warm up to you eventually." Katie consoled.

"I don't really care if anyone 'warms up to me'. I don't plan on staying long. I just hate that I'm being forced to go to this stupid school and stay with Viola." He admitted to her, his voice laced with venom.

As they spoke they both walked together in the direction of Viola's house. Andrew's thoughts of the bizarre things that had occurred that day were pushed to the back of his mind.

"I've heard of Viola Tyler before. I pity you, having to stay with that woman. She's awful. Rumor has it that the only reason she's even allowed to foster kids is because she bribes the police so they don't report her. I'm not sure why she would do that though." Katie said, making a face.

"It's probably because she wants the money given to her to provide for us. She already told me that if I wanted to buy new clothes or anything else, I have to get a job." Andrew explained.

"Hmmm." Katie thrummed unconvinced.

"Why are you hanging out with me anyways? I'm pretty sure I made it quite clear that I'm not searching for any form of friendship." Andrew looked over at the girl beside him with narrowed eyes.

Katie sighed and clutched her backpack straps tightly.

"Because I kinda know what you're going through. I was the new kid here once, a long time ago, and no one ever tried to help me. I don't want that to happen to you. I don't know if you realize it, but you look kind of fragile." She said quietly.

Andrew scoffed.

"I do not." He spat at her.

"Yeah, you do. And it would be freaky if you didn't. I mean, come on! You have a severe case of amnesia, mysterious burn scars, and you're living with Viola Tyler. That's enough to cause anyone to have a nervous breakdown!" Katie exclaimed avidly.

"Whatever." Andrew rolled his eyes.

They came up to Viola's lavender, Victorian style house and stopped just outside. Katie shuffled her feet, not sure what to do.

"Well, this is my stop. Thanks, I guess, for walking me home." Andrew said slowly, trying to at least be a little nice.

Katie beamed at him. She jumped up on the tips of her toes and gave him quick hug.

"You're welcome. I'll see you tomorrow, Andrew." She said as she pulled away. She continued on down the sidewalk, waving at him when she turned the corner.

Andrew watched her leave uncertainly. He was glad she was gone, in a way. But at the same time it was nice knowing she was willing to go out of her way for him. He almost didn't want to see her leave. He shook his head to clear his thoughts, pushing his conflicting feelings aside. Katie Harris could be dealt with later.

He opened the front door to Viola's house and stepped inside. He dumped his backpack by the door and walked to the kitchen to get a drink. He wasn't surprised to see that everyone else, besides Viola, was already home. They'd taken the faster way.

"Where were _you?_ I thought you were supposed to come home with Kris and I." Maxine questioned suspiciously from her spot at the dining table. She had her school books fanned out in front of her and she appeared to be doing her homework, but Andrew could see the Totallyhot Teen magazine hidden unsuccessfully under her thigh.

"I walked home. Why do you care? Nosy much?" He shot back, grabbing a water bottle and leaving for the living room.

"I could tell Viola!" She yelled after him.

"Like she'll care!" He yelled back.

He entered the living room and plopped down on the couch. He barely had time to take a swig of water before he was ambushed by a tiny bundle of pink. Curran jumped up on his lap, clad in all pink clothing, making her dark black hair even more prominent. Andrew chocked on the liquid, couching up a storm as he tried to keep the water from going down the wrong tube.

"Andrew!" The little Asian girl screamed happily. "You're home!"

"Yeah, I'm back." Andrew replied weakly, refusing to call the house home.

"I'm so glad! You're so much more interesting than all the others here they're boring. Guess what? Today in class we started learning our multiplication tables, and I'm doing really well! But than at lunch, Molly Holowitz stole my cookie and that ruined my whole day. She didn't even get caught. And on the bus ride home, Ricky Sol spilled his chocolate milk on my dress, so I had to change. But besides that, my day was ok. How was yours." Curran was speaking so fast Andrew had a hard time following her. Her sentences didn't make all that much sense and she slurred some of her words, but he got the gist of it.

"Uhhh," He was completely unable to reply. He hadn't expected to be jumped like this. Curran had seemed so shy when he first met her, but than he realized what this must be for her. She couldn't exactly tell Viola about anything, so she told the next best person, and at the moment, that was him. Maxine wouldn't care, Kris was horrible with kids, and Hank and Rebecca were younger than she was. "My day was… good."

"Yay!" She squealed. Curran was looking at him with wide, admiring eyes. He absently wondered if maybe she tried this with everyone, and his reaction was the first positive one she'd ever gotten.

Curran moved from his lap to his side, grabbing the remote and turning on the TV. He was about to get up, but she than snuggled up to his side, grabbing hold of his arm, and he couldn't bring himself to detach her. This actually kinda felt good. Like how family was supposed to feel like. Curran might have only been a little kid, but she had a big heart.

Andrew hunkered down for a little while, prepared to watch Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi until Curran decided to let him up. He could do that for her.

/

"Man, I really missed how this feels!" Steve hollered at the top of his lungs, soaring high up in the clouds.

He and Matt were currently flying from town to town, looking for any sign of Andrew. Of course, they were only checking out the towns close to Seattle for now. Casey was back at her house, scouring the Internet for any information about a kid in his late teens either being found or taken to a hospital and no one knowing who he was. She was actually being quite helpful, Steve could admit. He hadn't expected that.

So far, they hadn't found anything though, and it was disheartening, to say the least. Steve really wanted Andrew back and safe with them.

He knew he should hate the kid, that he should _really_ hate him, but he couldn't bring himself to. That night, the night Andrew had… killed him, he should have seen the signs that he was pushing his friends a little too far. He should have just flown back to down and dealt with him once he was on the ground again. Andrew had been an emotional wreck, and he couldn't blame him for that. The kid had been through hell. And with his mother's death… he couldn't bring himself to feel anything but pity for Andrew. Well, pity and a string bond of friendship. That had never been severed. He still considered Andrew to be his closest friend besides Matt.

Before the two of them, kids only ever befriended him for his popularity.

To be brutally honest, Steve was afraid of what would happen when they found Andrew. He wasn't sure of have much he would remember. When _his_ body had healed, down in that _casket_, he'd been confused for days before he was able to put his life all together. His theory was that their brains took longer to heal than their bodies, so the memories came back later. What if Andrew didn't want to come back with them, what if he was happy where he was? What would they do than?

Steve knew what he would do. He would drag Andrew out of their kicking and screaming. He would grab is friend and fly him away until they where somewhere Andrew couldn't run away from them, somewhere he would be safe. With his friends. It was selfish, he knew that, but he also knew he would hesitate to do it if he had the chance.

He couldn't exactly go back to his old life. His parents still didn't know he was back, and he knew they wouldn't take it well. They didn't like anything abnormal. A word which described him perfectly. He was pretty sure, if he were to try and explain it all to them, they would disown him.

"Come on man, stay serious here." Matt shouted after him, but Steve could hear the smile in his voice. Matt was probably just as happy to be in the skies again as he was. The feeling was one that could never be replaced. It made it all the more special knowing they were the only ones ever to fully experience it, at least as far as they knew.

They were over Fort Lewis, near Tacoma, on their second day of searching. Andrew had been missing for four days. On their first day they'd travels to Everett, Marysville, and Arlington, but there had been not signs of Andrew anywhere. Casey was focusing her search on Oregon, Idaho, and Montana.

"Let's land, Steve. We'll search 'Lewis and than head home. It'll be getting dark by the time we're done." Matt said, pointing towards the ground.

He nodded and gave a thumbs up so he didn't have to yell over the wind, but internally his gut twisted. He didn't want to stop and Fort Lewis. They were just giving Andrew another day to get farther away. Not that he thought Andrew was running from them, he was pretty sure the kid would still have amnesia for a few more days at the least, but that didn't mean Andrew didn't keep moving because he didn't know _what_ he was supposed to do.

As Steve headed for the ground, he could see the look of regret that flashed over Matt's face. After that he knew Matt wanted to find Andrew just as much as he did.

**A/N: Well, I hope you all liked it. As you have probably noticed, Andrew happens to be my favorite character, so he's the center of attention. I know the whole thing with Curran might seem kind of stupid to you, but I wanted to give some of the other foster kid's character's a little life.**

**I need your help with something pretty important for this story. I've already asked a someone for their opinion, and they were quite helpful, but I want to know the popular vote as well. Should I have Matt and Steve find Andrew early on in the story, or towards the end? Because I have big plans for both plots, I just need to know what you think of it all. Please tell me what you think!**


	4. Findings

**A/N: Thank you to all who answered my question in the last chapter. I have **_**finally**_** made my decision concerning what coarse I plan on taking with this story. Hopefully you will all like it. Enjoy!**

Andrew sighed in contempt. He was beginning to wonder why the heck he even bothered attending school. It seemed he already knew the material being taught, so either he was put in the wrong grade (Resulting in the fact that they got his age wrong), or he was a naturally brilliant student. He figured he was the latter, because his physical appearance suggested he couldn't have possibly been out of high school already. He was loath to admit he was relatively scrawny.

At the moment he was sitting in his science class, and truthfully, he wasn't the only person not paying the teacher any mind. In fact, he was pretty sure every student in the classroom was off in their own little worlds, including the teacher, who seemed to not care he teaching was falling on deaf ears.

Andrew was watching the clock intently, waiting for the stupid bell to ring. Today the school was having a half-day because some repairs had to be made, so as soon as science was over, he was heading home, as was everyone else.

It had been about a week since his first day at Kirsten High, and still the only friend he had was Katie. He didn't care though; he wasn't there to make friends. Really he didn't want to be friends with Katie either, but she wouldn't let off, se he was stuck with her for the time being. He was friendly, at least, with an Indian kid in his Math class named Omar, but they just spoke during class and that was as far as the friendship went.

Although he did make an enemy, if you could even call him that. The kid from his last period class hadn't found the incident where his desk 'mysteriously' toppled over very funny. He though Andrew did it somehow, even it that was impossible. So now, Ty Novak was after his blood. And it turns out that Ty Novak has a reputation for putting people in the hospital. Ty Novak was a big guy. Andrew was at least slightly intimidated, to say the least. Although something inside him sneered at the idea of being afraid of someone as low as Ty Novak. He was nothing. Andrew was higher than him.

He soon shook those thoughts out of his head though, because how in the world was he higher than a dude with arms the size of watermelons. He would get pulverized. He may have been smarter, but smarts only help to a certain extent.

Finally, the dismissal bell rang, loud and clear, through the dreary atmosphere of the science classroom. The students were up and out of their seats before the teacher had even stopped talking. Andrew grinned triumphantly. He could leave this prison like building now, and he couldn't have been happier.

He swiped his arm across his desk, knocking his book into his backpack and making his way to the door. Once he was in the hallway, he had to dodge and weave his way through the crowd just to get outside. He never used his locker, so he had no reason to stop there before he left. He just kept all his books in his backpack, the extra weight not bothering him. He was even gaining some back muscles from the decision.

Once he successfully made it outside, he waited impatiently for Katie to make her way out. He knew batter than to leave without her. It was now tradition for them to walk home together. Of course, the first few days he tried to ditch her, but he was unsuccessful, so he resigned to his fate.

He watched with an emotionless face as Katie Harris bounced her way over to him with a large smile, her enthusiastic energy not affecting him in the least.

"Why are you so happy?" He asked her blankly as they started off in the direction of Viola Tyler's house.

"'Cause its Friday! That's why." She replied like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"What's so great about Fridays?" He looked at her with an eyebrow raised.

"There are a lot of reasons Friday's are great," Katie rolled her eyes at his ignorance. "First, we don't have school for the next two days, second, we don't have school for the next two days, and third, we don't have school for the next two days!"

"Those aren't legitimate reasons." Andrew sneered.

"Whatever, Andrew. All I know is that I'm free to do whatever I want this weekend, so it's going to be great." Katie grinned up at him.

"That's not very likely. It's supposed to start raining tonight and not stop until Tuesday, so it's probably going to be a pretty crappy weekend." Andrew informed her with a smirk. Katie glowered at him in return.

"Why are you so pessimistic all the time?" She demanded angrily.

Andrew shrugged.

"I just figure it's best to expect the worst. If you expect the worst to happen, than when good things actually do happen they just seem all the more better, and when bad things happen, you're not disappointed." He replied sullenly.

"How sad it must be to live in your world." Katie muttered, shaking her head.

"At least I'm not annoyingly peppy." Andrew shot back at her.

"Hey! I am _not_ peppy! Have you met the chicks on the cheer quad? They're peppy!" Katie shouted in outrage. "I'm just cheerfully optimistic in my own, sarcastic way."

"And I'm just gloomily pessimistic in my own, blunt way." He smirked at her.

Katie growled in frustration. She kept broodingly quiet for the rest of the walk (Thank God), only mumbling a goodbye to him when they reached his house. As he walked up the steps to the front door, he didn't even bother looking to see if she waved to him as she rounded the corner. He knew she wouldn't.

/

"Have you found anything yet?" Matt asked Casey tiredly as he and Steve both crashed on the floor of his room. After over a week of non-stop searching, they were exhausted. And worst yet, they had not found anything.

"No." Casey sighed in exasperation. "All I've found so far are dead ends. There doesn't seem to be anything about Andrew on the Internet."

"There _has_ to be _something_." Steve insisted, refusing to admit that maybe there wasn't.

"Well than why don't you look?" Casey exclaimed, jumping up from her seat on Matt's bed. Whenever she wanted to search without the fear of her parents asking what she was up to, she would come to Matt's and work from his room. "Because I'm sure you would have just as much luck as I've had."

"Whoa, calm down!" Steve held his hands up in surrender. "I didn't mean to upset you."

"Well you did. I've been trying as hard as I can, but it's like trying of find a needle in a hay stack." She glared at him.

"Ok, I'll let you do your work then." Steve replied, looking a bit afraid. Matt snickered off to his side.

"This is so stressful." Casey sighed, a feeling of fatigue overcoming her like a tidal wave. She dismissed Steve's rather rude words, not because she was a forgiving person, but because being angry with him took too much energy. "When I find Andrew, I'm going to kill him again."

"You and me both, sister." Steve inserted with a playful grin.

Casey just rolled her eyes, ignoring both boys as she sat back down and situated her computer on her lap to continue searching. She wasn't the most tech savvy person in the world, so at the moment, Google was her best friend.

Matt shifted nervously where he sat.

"I'm actually getting a little worried." He said, voicing what had been eating at him for the past few days. "I've been- well, _we've_ been out quite a lot lately, and no one seems to be questioning why. I've been expecting a military worker to come knocking on my door, demanding to know where I've been flying off to for a while now. I have an excuse ready and everything, but nothings happened."

"Maybe they've clued in to what happened to me and they know what we're trying to do, so they're letting us do all the dirty work. Eventually we'll most likely lead them right to Andrew." Steve said with a shrug.

"And that doesn't worry you." Matt asked, his voice raising a few octaves.

"Well not really. I mean seriously, did you honestly think after we found Andrew, our lives would go back to what they used to be. I'm preparing myself for the worst. We'll most likely have to live on the run, in a way. Andrew'd always wanted to go to Tibet, I was planning on going there with him, and them living like a traveler, going all around the world. My parents don't like different, and that's exactly what I am, so they'll never take me back. Obviously Andrew doesn't have anybody, and he won't want to stay here because of the possibility of arrest, or whatever the government had planned for him." Steve explained calmly. "You have a life here still. You wouldn't have to leave, but I admit I want you to come with me, and possibly Andrew."

Matt realized Steve had already thought through all of this. He narrowed his eyes at his friend and opened his mouth to say something, but Casey cut him off.

"Guys! I've found something!" She yelled happily, pointing at her computer screen. Both boys rushed to her side.

"It says here that a boy, around 17 or 18 years old, was found with amnesia about a week and a half ago in Kirsten, Oregon. All he could remember was his name: Andrew." Casey grinned up at them, her eyes alight with joy.

"Yeah baby!" Steve hollered triumphantly. He held his hand up to Casey and she high fived him enthusiastically.

Matt grinned at his friends' antics.

"Kirsten... I think I might have an aunt that lives there. I remember seeing the return address on the last letter she sent me." Casey said thoughtfully.

"We need to go. Now." Steve said, ignoring her and grabbing his discarded jacket.

"Hey! Wait, wait, wait. We can't just leave _now. _It's already dark out and the skies will be freezing. Plus we're both exhausted." Matt pointed out hastily, grabbing Steve by his arm before he could jump out the window.

"Do you really want to wait until tomorrow? Come on man!" Steve glared at him.

"I'm just being sensible." Matt shot back.

Casey sighed and stepped between the two of them.

"Now's not the time to fight. We'll leave tomorrow morning." She said simply.

"Whoa wait, _we?"_ Matt looked at her incredulously.

"Yes, _we." _Casey growled. "I'm coming with you, because I'm pretty sure it will take more than a couple of hours to convince Andrew to come back with us, so we can stay at my aunt's. She's always asking for me to come visit anyway. And without me, you've got nowhere to stay." She stood resolutely with her hands on her hips.

Matt raised his hand to refuse, but when Casey practically bit his hand off, he quickly backed off.

"Fine." He snapped. "But how do you plan on getting there? I don't think you want to hold on to my neck the entire way there. It will take a few hours."

Steve nodded, acknowledging the issue.

"Well duh! You're both, like, super powerful now! You can both support me in the sky together." Casey snorted like they were both idiot.

"You'd really be ok with that?" Steve asked in astonishment.

"Sure." She shrugged

Steve whistled in approval.

"You're one brave chick." He laughed.

/

_The Next Day(Saturday), Around Noon_

"I'm goin' out, Max." Andrew muttered as he grabbed his jacket(As he was right about the rain) and headed to the front door, only to be blocked by none other than Maxine herself.

"Oh no you're not. First of all, don't call me Max, it's _Maxine! _And second, Viola said she didn't want any of us leaving today while she's gone. I plan on enforcing that." The red headed girl snarled.

"Since when does anyone ever listen to Viola. She's a _witch._ Why are you sucking up to her?" Andrew hissed in her face.

"Because… just because! It's none of your concern! You're still not allowed to leave." Maxine stuttered.

"I'm leaving." Andrew stating, completely ignoring her. He pushed her aside, and to Maxine's surprised, she moved unwillingly, falling with a crash to the floor. And the weirdest thing was that Andrew never touched her. Andrew didn't seem to notice, as he was already out the door and heading down the sidewalk.

He was heading to a place a few blocks away, located in the center of Kirtsen's main street. It was a coffee house called The Corner, and he knew Katie would be there. He hadn't been planning on going to try and find her, but he'd quickly gotten bored and figured finding her was better than playing kiddy board games with Hank and Rebecca.

He walked sullenly to The Corner, with his hands jammed in his pockets and his head held low. He was good at staying invisible when in that position, and for some reason, being invisible felt important to him.

Viola's house was relatively close the coffee house, so he reached it in a matter of minutes. He was not surprised to see Katie slouched in one of the back booths, nursing a peach smoothie moodily. Andrew smirked, thinking she looked like he most likely usually did.

Slowly he headed over to her; when she saw him she sat up straighter and glared.

"What do you want?" she demanded coldly.

Andrew shrugged and seated himself on the opposite side of her.

"I was bored." He said simply.

"Yeah well you might not want to hang around me. My _peppiness_ might rub off on you." Katie grumbled, sliding back down her seat.

"You're not exactly a ray of sunshine today, in case you haven't noticed." He snorted.

Katie didn't say anything, she just stuck her tongue out at him childishly, causing Andrew to laugh.

"Being a bit juvenile, aren't we?" He asked her playfully.

"I'm only seventeen, dude. I'm still allowed to act juvenile." Katie rolled her eyes.

"So I guess this mean your still upset with me?" Andrew questioned, his voice void of any regret.

"No need to sound sorry." Katie said sarcastically. "But yes, I guess I am."

"I'm not going to sound sorry, because I'm not. I was only being honest with you, and I don't see what the big deal is." He replied.

"Whatever." She sighed. Katie stood up from the booth, throwing away her smoothie and turning to look at him. "Come on, let's go for a walk. It finally stopped raining."

Andrew got up and followed her outside, taking the invitation as a sign of forgiveness.

They walked to the local park, Katie keeping up a constant babble the entire time. Andrew was only half listening though. He was preoccupied with a splitting headache and making sure she didn't notice anything was off.

"Hey Andrew, who are those two dudes over there?" Katie asked suddenly, drawing him out of his thoughts.

A few hundred feet away two boys stood next to a girl with long blonde hair and a video camera in her hand. They were talking with each other quietly, urgently.

"I don't know. Why do you ask?" He said.

"I'm not-" but before Katie could say anything she was cut off.

"Andrew!" The African American boy yelled. He ran towards him and hugged him tightly. Andrew quickly pushed him away, a frazzled look on his face.

"Oh my gosh Andrew. We've been looking everywhere for you." The other boy said as he and the girl followed after the first boy.

"Who are you guys?" Andrew demanded, pushing Katie behind him like he thought they were psychos.

"You mean you don't remember? It's me, Steve. Your best friend? And that's Matt, your cousin and his friend Casey."

Andre just stared at them blankly.

**A/N: Sorry for the cliffhanger, but I wanted to give you all an update. The updates will start slowing a bit, because of school and all, so I probably wont have this done before April :P I still plan on finishing sooner than usuaul though. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed.**


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